Nike’s biggest Chinese challenger has landed in L.A. County

Iris Kwok

Tue, February 24, 2026 at 8:00 PM GMT+9 3 min read

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Chinese national team apparel and equipment for the Milan–Cortina Winter Olympics are displayed in an Anta flagship store in Shanghai. (CFOTO / Future Publishing via Getty Images)

China’s sportswear giant has arrived in Los Angeles County.

Nike rival Anta Sports opened its first North American retail store in Beverly Hills earlier this month as it seeks to expand its international presence.

The company’s jackets have been sported on the slopes by brand ambassador Eileen Gu — the San Francisco-reared, Chinese Olympic skier — throughout the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics. Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors has also been spotted donning personalized Anta shoes.

Anta is already the largest sportswear company in China, with annual sales of more than $10 billion worldwide. It is jumping into the crowded U.S. sportswear market, starting with a roughly 2,500 square-foot store. Its main business is running and lifestyle shoes marked by a simple birdlike logo — the letter “A” turned sideways — that range from $80 to more than $200.

The store opened Feb. 13 with an event attended by Dallas Mavericks players Kyrie Irving and Klay Thompson, both former Nike athletes who have signed endorsement deals with Anta.

Irving, who has signed on with the company as its chief creative officer, launched his own line of “Kai” basketball shoes, including a recent one that celebrated Chinese New Year.

The new store reflects Anta’s “commitment to the U.S. market,” Anta brand’s Chief Executive Samuel Tsui said in a statement.

The space is meant to function as a “community and cultural hub,” with run clubs and other programs intended to celebrate the “intersection of Chinese American heritage, sport, and performance innovation,” according to the company’s statement.

Anta is the flagship label of parent conglomerate Anta Sports Products, which was founded in 1991 as a small footwear company.

The name loosely translates to “peaceful steps.” Its brand motto is “Keep Moving.”

The company went public on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in 2007. Soon after the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, it became the sportswear sponsor for China’s delegation to the 2012 Olympic Games in London, according to the South China Morning Post.

Anta Sports bought the rights to the Fila trademark in China, Hong Kong and Macao in 2009.

The sportswear group has been undergoing a rapid expansion. In May, Anta Sports acquired the German outdoor brand Jack Wolfskin for $290 million. In January, it struck a deal to become the largest shareholder in Puma by acquiring a 29% stake for $1.8 billion.

Since 2019, Anta Sports has been the largest shareholder of Amer Sports, the publicly traded, Helsinki-based parent company of Arc’teryx, known for its high-end waterproof jackets that have become a Tiktok meme; Salomon, whose “Gorpcore” hiking shoes have been worn by Hailey Bieber and Bella Hadid; and Wilson, the maker of NBA’s official basketballs.

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As of June 2025, Anta Sports operated more than 13,000 stores across all its brands and employed about 65,500 employees, according to the company’s August interim financial report.

The company, which had roughly 250 stores outside of China as of end of June 2025, has set a goal of growing to 1,000 stores in Southeast Asia over the next three years, Bloomberg reported in September.

Anta Sports is also “establishing a retail presence” in the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Egypt and Kenya.

Anta’s first U.S. retail location at 330 N. Beverly Drive is at the site of a former AllSaints store, neighboring the Wilson sports equipment shop.

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

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